9 March 2020

The Ministry of Justice requested the referral of the ECtHR case that ruled violation of rights regarding the detention of Osman Kavala to the Grand Chamber.

9 March 2020

Istanbul 10th Criminal Court of Peace ordered the detention of Osman Kavala, who was previously arrested under the Article 309 and Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC), then released by the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office, then re-arrested under the Article 309, once again on the same investigation file (2017/96115), but this time on the charges of espionage under the Article 328 of the TPC. Osman Kavala was questioned neither at the Police Headquarters nor at the Prosecutor’s Office. This time Osman Kavala was ordered detention without even being brought before the Court.

25 February 2020

An objection was lodged against the detention order given by the Istanbul 8th Criminal Court of Peace, on the grounds that the maximum period of 2 years for pre-trial detention that was legalized with the 1st Judicial Reform Package has been expired, that the violation decision by the ECtHR applies also to the mentioned charge, of the fact that Osman Kavala and Henri Barkey were in different cities on the day they allegedly met which was established during his interrogation at the Police Headquarters in 2017, that there is no evidence to back up the claim for the risk of absconding provided as the justification of detention, and that it is not plausible to argue for the risk of absconding in case of Osman Kavala who was arrested four years after the Gezi Protests and one year after the Coup Attempt.

19 February 2020

Istanbul 8th Criminal Court of Peace ordered the detention of Osman Kavala based on the Article 309 of Turkish Penal Code regarding the investigation that he was previously released by the order of the Prosecutor’s Office.

19 February 2020

Osman Kavala was referred to the Criminal Court of Peace without being interrogated at the Police Headquarters or the Prosecutor’s Office.

18 February 2020

Osman Kavala was rearrested without even leaving the prison premises.

18 February 2020

Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant on Osman Kavala regarding the same investigation (2017/96115) on which he was released before.

18 February 2020

Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court ordered the ACQUITTAL of Osman Kavala unanimously over the trial regarding the case file numbered 2019/74 that is known as “Gezi Trial”.

28 January 2020

Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court ruled the continuation of detention of Osman Kavala by majority vote once again dismissing the decision of the European Court of Human Rights of 10 December 2019 concerning the “immediate release” of Osman Kavala. The next hearing was scheduled for 18 February 2020.

25 December 2019

A statement by the attorneys of Kavala was released upon the decision of the Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court on 24 December 2019 regarding the continuation of detention.

24 December 2019

Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court ruled the continuation of detention of Osman Kavala by majority vote dismissing the decision of the European Court of Human Rights of 10 December 2019 concerning the “immediate release” of Osman Kavala. The next hearing was scheduled for 28 January 2020.

10 December 2019

European Court of Human Rights has announced its judgment regarding Osman Kavala’s detention, concluding that the articles 5.1, 5.4 and 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights have been violated, and ordered Osman Kavala to be released immediately. You can access the full-text of the ECHR judgment here.

9 October 2019

Attorneys of Osman Kavala held a briefing upon the decision of the Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court on 8 October 2019 regarding the continuation of detention.

8 October 2019

Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court ruled the continuation of detention of Osman Kavala by majority vote. The next hearing was scheduled for 24-25 December 2019.

29 July 2019

With the decree issued by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors, the panel of judges hearing the case regarding the Gezi Park incidents was dismissed from the case and was transferred to the second judicial panel that was formed in the Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court.

18 July 2019

30th Heavy Penal Court ruled the continuation of detention of Osman Kavala by majority vote. The next hearing was scheduled for 8-9 October 2019.

11 July 2019

With the decree issued by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors, Mahmut Başbuğ, who was the presiding judge by proxy during the first hearing and voted against the continuation of detention of Osman Kavala, was assigned as the presiding judge of the 30th Heavy Penal Court.

25 June 2019

30th Heavy Penal Court ruled the continuation of detention of Osman Kavala by majority vote despite the dissenting opinion of the presiding judge on the release of Osman Kavala stating the possibility of change in the qualification of the offense. The next hearing was scheduled to 18-19 July 2019.

24 June 2019

On the first day of the trial held in Silivri Campus, Osman Kavala provided his defense statement.

22 May 2019

Constitutional Court of Turkey ruled that Osman Kavala’s detention does not violate his right to liberty and security by 5 to 10 votes.

In their dissenting opinion, the President and the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court stated that there is no convincing evidence in the file regarding that the Gezi Protests were financed by Osman Kavala and that the Gezi Protests were intended to overthrow the government. You can access the translation of the dissenting opinion by Zühtü Arslan, the president of the Constitutional Court, here.

30 April 2019

Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court held a detention hearing. For the first time since the arrest of Osman Kavala on 1 November 2017, Osman Kavala's lawyers were invited to the hearing. Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled.

19 April 2019

A reply to the Government’s observation to the European Court of Human Rights was submitted.

15 April 2019

A reply to the Government’s observation to the Constitutional Court was submitted.

2 April 2019

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon review.

1 April 2019

The written observations to the Constitutional Court submitted by the Government of the Republic of Turkey were received.

13 March 2019

The written observations to the European Court of Human Rights submitted by the Government of the Republic of Turkey were received.

5 March 2019

Preliminary proceedings report was prepared by the Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court. Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled. The date and place of the first trial were declared to be 24 June 2019, Silivri Campus.

19 February 2019

The indictment was issued by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office.

15 February 2019

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon review.

18 January 2019

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon review.

21 December 2018

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon review.

24 November 2018

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon review.

26 October 2018

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon review.

28 September 2018

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon review.

31 August 2018

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon review.

31 August 2018

A petition was filed with the request for the severance of Osman Kavala’s investigation from the other suspect(s)' that are not connected to Osman Kavala’s case, and for Osman Kavala’s release.

23 August 2018

European Court of Human Rights has pre-accepted Osman Kavala's application due to Article 41 of the internal regulations of the Court.

9 August 2018

An objection was lodged against the decision for the continuation of pretrial detention that was conducted in a manner against the legislation and the due process of law.

3 August 2018

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon a review hearing with the lawyer who was appointed by Istanbul Bar Association without notifying Osman Kavala nor his defense counsels.

11 June 2018

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon review.

7 June 2018

An application was lodged to the European Court of Human Rights.

21 May 2018

A petition was filed with the request for the severance of Osman Kavala’s investigation from the other suspect(s)' that are not connected to Osman Kavala’s case.

16 May 2018

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon “the review of the file” without any hearing.

27 April 2018

Remarking the decision of the Constitutional Court dated 12 April 2018 numbered 2016/15637 on the detention of Erdal Tarcan that found a violation of personal liberty as regards the allegation that judicial review of his detention was conducted without being brought before a judge/court, a petition requesting a hearing for the review of the pre-trial detention of Osman Kavala was lodged.

27 April 2018

A petition was lodged demanding the decisions and the records on the interception of communication of Osman Kavala.

18 April 2018

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon review.

19 March

The request for release was dismissed.

8 March 2018

Osman Kavala filed a request for release via prison.

17 February 2018

Continuation of pretrial detention was ruled upon review.

5 February 2018

The objection was dismissed.

1 February 2018

An objection was lodged against the decision for the dismissal of the request for release.

23 January 2018

The petitions requesting a hearing for the review of the decision for detention were rejected.

29 December 2017

An Individual Application was lodged to the Constitutional Court.

28 December 2017

A petition was filed requesting a hearing to be held to review the decision for detention, and Kavala to be released upon review.

1 December 2017

A petition was filed requesting a hearing to be held to review the decision for detention and Kavala to be released upon review.

8 November 2017

An objection was filed against the decision for detention issued by the Istanbul 1st Criminal Court of Peace.

6 November 2017

A request was made to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for the removal of restrictions on lawyers’ prison visits.

1 November 2017

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office referred him to court for arrest without taking his testimony. The Istanbul 1st Criminal Court of Peace ruled to detain Kavala on charges delineated under articles 309 and 312 of the Turkish Penal Code.

31 October 2017 - Midday

Kavala’s interrogation took place in the Istanbul Police Department Anti-Terrorism Unit.